Blade guide and slice thickness gauge



- March 17, 1959 A. G. PQLLMAN 2,877,552

- BLADE GUIDE AND SLICE THICKNESS GAUGE Filed April 23, 1958 mm IIIIIIAndrew 6. Pol/man 1N VENTOR.

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BY 19m United States Patent BLADE GUIDE AND SLICE THICKNESS GAUGE AndrewG. Pullman, Freeman, S. Dak.

Application April 23, 1958, Serial No. 730,376

4 Claims. (Cl. 30-284) This invention relates to a simple and practicalattachment for the blade of a knife and the purpose of the invention isto assist the user of the knife in guiding the blade and gauging thethickness of the slice, whereby to thus provide a reliable aid whenslicing bread, cake, and other products such as cheese, meat and so onwhich are marketed for use in loaf form.

Persons conversant with the art to which the invention relates are wellaware of the fact that many and varied styles and forms of knife bladethickness gauges have been evolved and produced. Generally speaking, itis common in this field of endeavor to provide an elongated linearlystraight member, similar to a blade, and this is supported in spacedparallelism relative to the adjacent side surface of the knife blade.Devices of one type or another are employed for detachably andadjustably as well as swingably mounting one end of the gauge member onthe knife, in some instances the handle portion, and in other instancesthe blade itself.

As generally indicative of the state of the art to which the instantinvention relates, the reader might make reference to a knife bladeholder and guide in the Rothman Patent, 2,777,197, of January 15, 1957.This particular patent is mentioned in that it is analogous in certainrespects to the present invention. That is to say, it is characterizedby a U-shaped adapter or clamp and means which is associated therewithfor hingedly mounting a blade-like guage member.

As will be evident from the foregoing explanation, the present inventionhas to do with a generally similar combination but which is novel anddistinct in varying ways. To this end, in carrying out the presentinvention, a U- shaped adapter clamp is provided and one limb has anoutstanding support-stud. The other limb is provided with a setscrewwhich holds the clamp securely on the knife blade. A novel bracket isutilized for hingedly mounting the gauge blade or member on the stud.More specifically, novelty is predicated on a bracket characterized by aplate provided with selectively usable holes to accommodate thescrew-threaded stud. The plate, in turn, has an extension which is ofL-form and thus provides a desired offset arrangement for a hinge pin.The extension is also provided with a stop pin and the cooperating endof the gauge member has a clearance notch which cooperates with the stoppin.

Other objects, features and advantagestwill become more readily apparentfrom the following description and the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing, wherein like numerals are employed to designate likeparts throughout the views:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a bread knife or the like with the improvedattachment mounted thereon and readied for use.

Fig. 2 is a side view or, if preferred, a front elevation, showing notonly the invention but illustrating how it is used at the beginning ofthe slicing operation.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view based on Fig. 1 and showing therelationship of parts at the final cut-through of I the slice.

Fig. 4 is a section on an enlarged scale taken on the plane of thevertical line 4-4 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 5 is an exaggerated section of a fragmentary type, taken on thehorizontal line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 6 and 7 are detail views showing the operation of the clearancenotch and stop pin.

Fig. 8 is an exploded perspective view wherein the components which makeup the combination are all separately shown in cooperating relationship.

In the principal views, the slicing knife is conventional and comprisesa suitable handle 10 and slicing blade 12.

The attachment (Fig. 8) comprises, as already mentioned, an adapter orclamping fixture, and this is denoted generally by the numeral 14. It isof U-shaped form and comprises a bight portion 16 and limbs or arms 18and 20 which straddle the knife blade. The arm 18 has a screw-threadedhole to accommodate the setscrew 21 which functions in the manner seenin Fig. 4. The aforementioned outstanding screw-threaded stud 22 isattached to and projects at right angles from the lower portion of thearm 20. As evident in Fig. 4, the stud is equipped with two nuts theinner one of which is denoted by the numeral 24 and the outer one withthe numeral 26. The latter nut is preferably a wing-type for convenienceof operation. These nuts serve to hold in place the adjustable andremovable hinging bracket 28. As seen in Fig. 8 this comprises agenerally fiat ovate plate 30 having selectively usable holes 32 adaptedto be mounted on the stud and clamped in an obvious manner. The righthand edge portion of the plate is provided with oifset hinging means.This comprises a substantially L- shaped extension the offset endportion of which is denoted at 34 and is provided with an outstandinghinge pin 36 to accommodate the hinging hole 38 on the inner end portionof the elongated linearly straight gauge member or blade 40. The innerend portion is also provided with a suitable clearance notch 42 whichcooperates with the outstanding stop lug or pin 44.

Fig. 1 shows the gauge-equipped knife before the knife is brought intouse. Fig. 2 shows how it is used in guiding the blade and also startinga slice on the loaf A resting on the board or support surface B. Due togravity the gauge member 40 assumes a slightly downwardly inclinedposition. When the slice is finished and the blade cuts completelythrough as depicted in Fig. 3 the gauge member straightens up and isthen substantially coplanar with the knife blade. This controlledoperation is accomplished through the medium of the cooperation of theclearance notch 42 and stop pin 44, as brought out particularly well inFigs. 6 and 7.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will bereadily understood and further explanation is believed to beunnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction shown and described, andaccordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A blade guide and slice thickness gauging attachment for a breadknife or the like comprising a hinging and attaching bracket, means formounting said bracket on a knife blade, said bracket comprising a plateremovably and adjustably mounted on said means, said plate provided withan offset member having a hinge pin and a stop pin, and an elongatedgauge member having an end portion pivoted for free swinging movement onsaid aseaasa 3 hinge pin and also having a clearance notch cooperablewith said step pin.

2. The structure defined in claim 1, and wherein said bracket mountingmeans coitjnprises an inverted U-shaped memberhaving'a bightportion anddepending limbs, said limbs adapted to straddle the knife blade, asetscrew carried by one limb, and a screw-threaded stud carried by andextending at right angles from the other limb, said plate beingremovably and adjustably mounted on said stud.

3. The structure defined in claim 1, and wherein said ofisetmember isL-shaped in form and is connected with the marginal edge portion of saidplate.

4. A blade guide and slice thickness gauging attachment for a breadknife or the like comprising a hinging and attaching bracket, means formounting said bracket on a knife blade, said bracket comprising a plateremovably and adjustably mounted on said means, said plate provided onan intermediate portion of one marginal edge with an offsetsubstantially L-shaped member constituting an extension of the plate andprovided with a hinge pin and a cooperating spaced stop pin, and anelongated gauge member having one end portion pivoted for free swingingmovement on said hinge pin and also having a clearance notch in one endinto which said stop pin is projected.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,069,189 Saltzman Aug. 5, 1913 2,737,719 Ember et al Mar. 13, 19562,777,197 Rothman Ian. 15, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 124,068 Austria Aug. 10,1931

